The Economics of Lynching in Memphis

Fifty years after Martin Luther King’s assassination in Memphis, Martha Park gives examples of lynchings of African Americans in that city at the end of the nineteenth century, illustrating how “[b]eing too rich or too poor could have fatal consequences for African-Americans.” Some of the victims were friends of Ida B. Wells, anti-lynching crusader, who wrote about the crimes. Warning: Article includes graphic details of lynchings. To read the article, click here.